VfB Stuttgart earned a 3-2 friendly win against Swiss top-flight side FC Luzern at the Robert-Schlienz-Stadion on Monday afternoon. Ermedin Dermirovic made his comeback from injury after a long spell on the sidelines, and winter signing Jeremy Arévalo made his first outing in a VfB shirt.
Goals:
1-0 – 19th minute: VfB get forward quickly on the counter. Deniz Undav leads the charge and after Justin Diehl wins an aerial duel, the ball comes to Nikolas Nartey, who finishes into the right-hand corner.
2-0 – 22nd minute: A beautifully worked goal! Nartey passes to Chema near the edge of the penalty area. He finds Diehl, who fires it inside the left-hand post.
3-0 – 68th minute: Chris Führich drives inside at pace from the left and curls a stunning effort inside the far corner.
3-1 – 84th minute: Luzern pull one back in the closing stages. Lars Villiger provides the finishing touch to a counter-attack, leaving VfB goalkeeper Fabian Bredlow no chance.
3-2 – 86th minute: The outcome of the match appeared to be decided but Luzern make for a tense final few minutes. Andrej Vasovic dribbles down the right and into the box before smashing a shot in at the far post.
Reaction:
Head coach Sebastian Hoeneß: “Overall, I was pleased with the first 70 minutes but not with the last 20. Today was all about regaining our rhythm and getting a feel for our movement patterns again. We did that well in the first half, created some good chances and could have had a bigger lead. Towards the end of the game we gave the ball away too cheaply, and we should have dealt with one or two situations better.”
Line-up:
First half: Alexander Nübel – Josha Vagnoman, Angelo Stiller, Maximilian Mittelstädt, Justin Diehl, Leonidas Stergiou, Jeff Chabot, Jeremy Arévalo, Deniz Undav, Nikolas Nartey, Chema
Second half: Alexander Nübel (62' Fabian Bredlow) – Ramon Hendriks, Ermedin Demirovic, Chris Führich, Pascal Stenzel, Atakan Karazor, Jamie Leweling, Lorenz Assignon, Badredine Bouanani, Leny Meyer (70' Mirza Catovic), Ivan Knezevic